We want to let you know that as of June 1st we will no longer be renting the Saddlerock Barn building for The Mustard Seed Venture – NewHeavenNewEarth Community Center. There are two main reasons for this. The city is requiring significant building improvements, and we recently learned that the property is now being prepared for large scale development. For these reasons, and others, we’ve decided to move from this location. Beautiful things have happened at this Center, and we are grateful for having had the opportunity to experience a glimpse of what’s possible. While the work of The Mustard Seed Venture and NHNE will continue, David will be taking a break from teaching the NDE classes and dream group, so there will be no more NDE or dream classes until further notice. Read more →

After Alexandra updated the class on the upcoming rummage sales, I let everyone know that I had completed work on version 3.0 of “The Formula for Creating Heaven on Earth”. Version 3.0 includes a major overhaul of both the chart and worksheet. In addition, eight new sub categories have been added to The Formula’s 12 main sections. The wording on several existing sub categories has also been improved.

Screenwriter, director, and producer Randall Wallace visited Lynchburg on Wednesday to speak in Liberty University’s Convocation and to screen his new film, “Heaven is for Real,” based on the best-selling novel of the same name.

Todd Burpo, a Nebraska pastor who wrote about his son Colton’s near-death experience at age 3, accompanied Wallace to Lynchburg. After Convocation, a campus tour, and meeting with students and staff at Liberty’s Cinematic Arts Center, Wallace and Burpo were scheduled to only show the film to members of Liberty’s administration at Regal Ridge Ridge Stadium 14. But students were so enthused with Wallace’s Convocation message (where they also saw a trailer for the film), that President Jerry Falwell, Jr. invited all students. Sony Pictures bought 1,100 seats, and the film was shown on five screens. Wallace said it was the largest screening so far and the only one to be held at a university. The film releases to the public nationwide on April 16.

We spent the remainder of the class watching an informative interview that AfterLife TV’s Bob Olson did with best-selling author Bill Guggenheim. Bob Olson describes the interview this way:

“Our loved ones in spirit communicate with us in many ways, and Bill Guggenheim teaches us the 12 most common categories of after-death communications (ADCs) in this video conversation. Bill is the co-author of Hello From Heaven with his former wife, Judy Guggenheim. Together they interviewed 2000 people and collected more than 3300 first-hand accounts of ADCs. In this conversation, Bill defines after-death communications, shares his incredible story of how he was led to do this research, and teaches us how to recognize when our deceased loved ones are contacting us. Bill & Judy Guggenheim are the leaders in the field of after-death communication.”

1. Sensing their presence
2. Hearing their voice
3. Feeling their touch
4. Smelling their fragrance
5. Seeing their apparition
6. Seeing a flat vision of them like a photo
7. Experiencing one of these types while half-asleep
8. Having a visitation dream
9. Having an out-of-body experience and meeting them
10. Receiving a telephone call (two-way conversations have actually been reported.)
11. Experiencing physical activity such as lights, TVs, and radios going on and off
12. Receiving a symbolic message, sign, meaningful coincidence, or synchronicity

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

After watching the videos linked above, we watched three excerpts from a 2011 talk given by NDE researcher, Dr. Bruce Greyson. Greyson, who is considered “the father of research in near-death experiences”, is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia. He is the co-author of Irreducible Mind (2007), co-editor of The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences (2009), and creator of “The Greyson Scale“, which is often used to measure various aspects of near-death experiences. This tour-de-force presentation focuses on scientific evidence that suggests that consciousness exists without a brain. Specifically, Greyson explores four areas:

1. Deathbed recovery of lost consciousness

2. Complex consciousness with minimal brain

3. Near-neath experiences

4. Memories of a past life

The first excerpt we listened in class provides an overview of the discoveries that have been made in these four areas. That clip runs from 1:02:00 until 1:03:28.

The second excerpt pertains to complex consciousness existing in people who have little or no brains! That clip runs from 23:50 until 28:34.

In the final excerpt, Greyson discusses what he, personally, thinks about reincarnation. That clip runs from 1:22:10 until 1:23:50. Here is a transcript of the final clip:

“What is my personal view of rebirth? Many of the cases that we have are unexplainable in terms of western medicine, but they are also unexplainable in terms of the reincarnation hypothesis. Sometimes you will see two children who seem to remember the same past life. Sometimes you will see a child who remembers the past life of someone who died when the child was six months old, so the two lives overlap. So it is not a clear model that we can follow. When I talk to near-death experiencers, they always say — when they start out explaining their experience – they say first words cannot explain my experience. I cannot describe it for you. And then I say, ‘that’s great, tell me all about it.’ So we force them to tell us what they experience and we know that they are not telling us what they experience; they’re putting into words things that don’t fit into words. And I think the same is true of the rebirth memories. What actually happens is something that we – that our brains – cannot understand. So the models that we come up with do not really approach the reality. So if you ask me what I believe, I say that what happens after death is something that I can’t possibly understand while I’m in this brain.”

……………….

Dean Radin Interviews Dr. Bruce Greyson

Dr. Bruce Greyson (left), Dean Radin (right)

Next we listened to portions of an interview that Dean Radin conducted with Bruce Greyson. The complete interview is located here. You can also listen to and/or download an MP3 version here. Here are the excerpts we listened to, including transcripts of those comments.

09:00 – 10:25

Bruce Greyson: “If you try to bring about a near-death experience, it’s not likely that you will actually have one. If you look at the content, the process of a near-death experience, one of the critical factors often seems to be letting go, giving up control, or having control arrested from you. Sometimes people will report approaching death and trying very hard to stay alive, trying very hard to stay in control, and fighting very hard against loosing control. And at some point they get exhausted and give in and just let go. And when they let go they are able to have this experience. And we find that those people who are able to let go are the ones who have the more elaborate experiences and have the more profound aftereffects. So if you are trying to bring about a near-death experience – and people have tried this with drugs, with various other means – you are not actually letting go, you’re not giving up control, you’re trying to maintain control. And I think that works against actually having the experience.”

34:56 – 36:16

Call in Question: “I would like to know how the study of this subject has changed you over time personally; how has this affected you personally…”

Bruce Greyson: “Most people who have near-death experiences talk about the profound changes in their attitudes, values, and beliefs afterwards. Most profoundly, they are no longer afraid of dying, but they also become more open in many other ways. I think some of that has rubbed off on me. You can’t listen to these stories year after year and not be affected… I don’t think I have the aftereffects of a near-death experience, but I think I am much less afraid of dying than I was before I started all this work. I’m much more open to other possibilities. There is a sense of meaning and purpose in the world that near-death experiencers seem to have that they didn’t have before and I think I’ve gotten some of that; the sense that things do really happen for a purpose; that there is something that we all have in common that I wasn’t aware of before I did all this work.”

36:48 – 38:10

Bruce Greyson: “I did a study once looking at people who had made suicide attempts and either did or didn’t have near-death experiences. I would interview them right after the suicide attempt and then every month thereafter. And there were some people who right after the suicide attempt told me that nothing had happened. And then a month or two later, they would say, you know, now that I’ve gotten to know you a bit, I think I can tell you that I did actually leave my body. And maybe four or five months later they would say, well now that I know you’re not going to make fun of me for this, I’ll tell you what really happened. They’ll tell me about seeing a deceased loved one. And then a year later they’ll say, Now that I know that you’re not going to treat me like I’m crazy, let me tell you what really happened. And they’ll tell you about meeting Jesus. And they keep telling you more and more as they start to trust you more and more. And there are some near-death experiencers that I’ve known for 30 years who I’m sure have not yet told me the more personal parts that they just can’t share. Some things are just too personal and… it would profane the experience by sharing it with somebody else.”

Dean Radin: “That’s interesting because it does suggest then that the percentage of people who report near-death experiences may be a vast underestimate.”

Bruce Greyson: “That’s right. I think that’s true.”

……………….

Arthur Yensen’s Near-Death Experience

Finally with listened to and discussed the 1932 near-death experience of Arthur Yensen. Along with the very interesting NDE that Yensen experienced, what makes his NDE especially interesting is that it took place DECADES BEFORE near-death experiences were popularized by Dr. Raymond Moody with the publication of his 1975 best-selling book, Life After Life. Here’s how near-death.com describes Yensen:

“Arthur Yensen was another near-death experiencer who received knowledge of reincarnation. In August of 1932, Yensen, a university graduate, geologist, and staunch -materialist -turned -syndicated -cartoonist, decided to take some time off to research his weekly cartoon strip, “ADVENTUROUS WILLIE WISPO.” Since his main character was a hobo, Yensen became a hobo for a time, blending in with the over sixteen million unemployed at that time in our nation’s Great Depression. He bummed rides from Chicago through Minnesota, until a young man in a convertible coupe picked him up on the way to Winnipeg. Going too fast for the road conditions, the car hit a three-foot-high ridge of oiled gravel and flipped into a series of violent somersaults. Both men were catapulted through the cloth top before the car smashed into a ditch. The driver escaped unharmed, but Yensen was injured, losing consciousness just as two female spectators rushed to his aid. After seeing the afterlife during this near-death experience, he later learned that telling others about his NDE often brought criticism, especially from the church. But there were those who would listen and as time wore on, more and more people would ask him about it. Finally in 1955, Arthur Yensen published a report of his near-death experience after much public interest. His booklet entitled “I Saw Heaven” describes his NDE and gives answers to questions he was always asked…”

For more information about Arthur Yensen and his near-death experience, go here.

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

I’m not sure what to say about this except that Raymond Moody, widely regarded as the father of the near-death experience movement, is making some very dramatic claims. Here are a couple comments extracted from the introductory videos that follow:

“I’m really willing to step forward and say now that we have made a genuine breakthrough in the rational investigation of life after death… 2014 is going to be a whole new era. I’m willing to step forward with this and say that we have made a genuine breakthrough in the RIGOROUS rational investigation of this question…”

“What reputation I have, I’m putting it on the line… I can pretty much guarantee you that the study of life after death is never going to be the same after January 17th and 18th… What I basically developed is a very simple way of reformatting your mind… this is not hype. This opens up a sort of unknown power of the mind…”

In his previous bestseller, The Third Man Factor, John Geiger examined stories of explorers who found themselves at the edge of death and experienced a benevolent presence that led them out of the impossible. After that book’s publication, Geiger was inundated with firsthand accounts from people who’d had the same experience — a visitation that aided them as they faced crises ranging from physical and sexual assaults to automobile accidents, airplane crashes, critical illness, childbirth, and devastating depression.

In The Angel Effect, Geiger brings together a breathtaking collection of personal stories about people who experienced what he now calls the Angel Effect: a Tucson woman involved in a serious car accident feels the reassuring presence of a mysterious nun; a Christian missionary during the 1994 Rwandan genocide senses the ethereal protection of angels; a young couple on a treacherous midnight drive through a snowy pass are guided by a middle-aged cleaning lady. In every case — including Geiger’s own experience in 2008 — the survivors are left to wonder if their benefactor was a physical reality, a trick of the mind, or an otherworldly visitation.

In this emotionally gripping narrative, Geiger argues that the Angel Effect has the potential to aid us, even to save us, and questions whether or not calling on a benevolent presence is a trainable skill that can be applied in moments of great need. Having investigated numerous historical accounts of these “sensed presence” experiences and compiled exhaustive scientific research into possible psychological and neurological causes for the phenomenon, Geiger reveals compelling discoveries about the human brain, the spiritual world around us, and our innate capacity to hope.

………………….

Bruce Van Natta: Saved by Angels

After hearing about John Gegier’s new book, we watched this video as a real world example of angelic interventions.

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

As always, the class began with a few moments of silence. After our quiet time together, I started the class with a video that featured the Dalai Lama, a gutsy reporter, and a cute joke gone bad…

……………….

National Geographic: Life After Life

While I didn’t play this National Geographic special during the class, I wanted to be sure everyone knew about it. It features near-death experiencers Christine Stein, Dr. Eben Alexander, and Anita Moorjani and includes comments from Dr. Jeffrey Long, Dr. Lakhmir S. Chawla, Dr. Kevin Nelson, and Peggy Kay, PhD.

This is another video that I told the class about, but didn’t play during our class time. Here’s a brief description:

“For millennia, human beings have wondered what happens when we die. What is the first-person experience of dying and being brought back to life? Technological advances in resuscitation science have now added an intriguing new chapter to the literature of ‘out of body’ or ‘near-death experiences’ by eliciting detailed and vivid accounts of those who have approached the threshold of death. However we might seek to explain such phenomena, it is no longer tenable to simply dismiss this accumulating body of firsthand experiences. Can these experiences be explained through the lens of biology and neuroscience? What can we learn from the transformative accounts of those who have crossed the threshold of death? How have their experiences affected their sense of self and identity? Join neurologist Kevin Nelson, psychiatrist Peter Fenwick, orthopedic surgeon Mary Neal, and emergency medicine expert Sam Parnia as they share some of these remarkable stories and discuss how they analyze such experiences in light of their own backgrounds and training.”

“Steve Jobs have a vision of the afterlife on his death-bed? Does quantum physics suggest that our mind might survive the physical death of our body? How do some near-death experiencers ‘see’ outside of their bodies at a time when they are supposed to be dead? In ‘Stop Worrying! There Probably is an Afterlife’, author Greg Taylor covers all these questions and more. From Victorian seance rooms through to modern scientific laboratories, Taylor surveys the fascinating history of research into the survival of human consciousness, and returns with a stunning conclusion: that maybe we should stop worrying so much about death, because there probably is an afterlife.”

“In his latest book, Return to Life, Associate Professor of Psychiatry Jim Tucker details some of the more compelling American cases he’s researched. He also outlines his argument that discoveries within quantum mechanics, the mind-bending science of how nature’s smallest particles behave, provide clues to reincarnation’s existence…”

For additional information, including an informative article about Jim Tucker, his work, his previous book, “Life Before Life: Children’s Memories of Previous Lives”, Tucker’s website, and the UofA School of Medicine: The Division of Perceptual Studies website, go here. To review NHNE’s resource page on past life research, go here.

When Hollywood came calling with a proposal to turn the best-seller into a major motion picture, Todd Burpo and his family did a lot of praying.

“I didn’t know anything about making movies,” Burpo said. “I had to learn to trust. God has to bring a lot of people to the project so the story can be told well and told right.”

“It was weird watching someone portray you,” Burpo said. “He [Greg Kinnear] played a better me than I do. There are some incredibly talented people involved, so it was easy for me to support [the project.] I did spend a lot of sleepless nights to get to this point.”

The movie is about a family that is embedded in Nebraska life, Burpo said.

“I was in high school when the movie ‘Footloose’ came out and it kind of made fun of small-town folk and the small-town way of life,” he said. “This movie is the opposite. It’s about people from the Heartland and it will make the Heartland life look pretty good.

“We all go through things, and I don’t think anyone will not be able to connect with it,” Burpo said. “When you have a little guy and just about lose him, how heart wrenching that is. Then that little boy starts to say things. There is a discovery of life that is incredible. Children are the purest, most innocent witnesses you are going to get. He wasn’t preprogrammed, he just told us what he saw. The movie is about us coming to terms with what he saw.”

The decision to go public with Colton’s story was a risk, Burpo admits.

“We knew some people would doubt it, attack it and criticize us,” he said. “We knew that would happen. We knew how much our son’s sharing helped us. We had to ask ourselves if it was right to keep that to ourselves. I had to make a decision. We took a risk, and with God, it’s worth it.”

It’s been three years since Burpo was first contacted about doing a movie, a rather fast track for the average Hollywood production.

“Most of it was filmed this summer,” he said. “It took about six weeks of filming from start to finish. There are so many steps involved, all the layers that go into a movie make it incredible. Each layer has its own quality of work that goes into it.”

Burpo talked with Scott many times while the screenplay was being written.

“By the time I saw the screenplay, it was very well done,” he said. “My input was on minor things.”

Burpo said he was nervous about seeing his book made into a movie.

God was with the project every step of the way, he said.

“A lot of the people who worked on the movie are people who weren’t people of faith,” Burpo said. “Yet at the same time, I really feel that everyone came together to tell Colton’s story in Colton’s way. I feel good about their commitment.”

Despite their fame, the Burpo’s are still living in Imperial where Todd is pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church.

“We struggle to stay as normal as possible,” he said. “I am still a member of the volunteer fire department, still the chaplain for the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighters.”

On the decision to go ahead with the movie, Burpo said his motivation was the same as it was when he wrote the book — to share Colton’s story in the hope of making a difference in people’s lives.

“If the original feeling was to help people, then when do you stop?” he said. “If you’ve done something that has made a difference, when do you stop? Until God says it’s time to stop … until then you keep moving forward.”

For additional information, including photos and graphics from the movie, links to the movie’s website, more information about Colton Burpo, and related NDE links, go here.

……………….

The Near-Death-Like Experience of Yvonne Sneeden and ThinkHeavenNow

In 2008, a life crisis lead to Yvonne Sneeden having a near-death-like experience. During her experience, Yvonne entered a heavenly realm and encountered Jesus and various angelic beings. Yvonne is the creator of ThinkHeavenNow (THENOW), a member of both IANDS (International Association for Near Death Studies) and ACISTE (American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences). She is currently working in collaboration with Sabine Van Den Bulke, psychotherapist and movement therapist with expertise in NDE Experiencers, in bringing spiritual and emotional support to help near-death experiencers cope with NDE after-effects.

We listened to a portion of an inspiring interview — from 22:15 until 25:06 — that Yvonne did with Lee Witting of NDE Radio.

Here is a transcription of the portion of the interview that we listened to, and discussed, in class:

“I know that other people have not seen Jesus – they have seen a being of light. Jesus is a being of light; it’s the same; he’s the light of The Creator to me, according to my experience. He said to me, ‘Yvonne, I love my babies.’ And when he [said] ‘my babies’, he meant… ‘I love humanity, I love humanity, I love my babies…’ It means every one of us regardless of where we come from – our life, our gender, our race, anything happening in our life, he loves everybody completely, and perfectly. And I said, ‘Oh yeah, I know, you were Jesus. You came on Earth to teach love, so no wonder.’ That’s what I was thinking. And then he said to me, ‘I’ll show you how.’ And when he said that, he took my heart and put my heart into his heart and we became one. And it was a complete oneness… we merged together, as one. For a few minutes I could actually feel each emotion Jesus had for humanity. And that’s the moment I cannot express with human words. It is way beyond any vocabulary we have. Imagine billions and billions of waves of compassion and love and forgiveness and kindness and goodness and light and purity — waves going for Earth and carrying us through, lifting us through. It’s difficult to explain that one experience. It was just beyond this world… There’s a prayer Jesus said when he was on Earth. He said ‘God let us be one like you and I are one…’ And that is exactly what I felt and experienced.”

– Collect all available information on the knowledge and learning gathered during an NDE or NDE-like experience and assist others by sharing the new ‘heaven’s bound’ findings and change the world around us, connecting even those who did not experience a near death or spiritual transformative experience but are open souls ready to embrace a new way of living by taking the ultimate destination as starting point for this inner change.

– Be an open platform for near death experiencers to share how their life is lived today, how they cope with the after effects and linked them to others who shared a similar life changing event.

– Create a support center for Experiencers to connect with NDE specialist who can provide a timely assistance related to the specific needs.

– Connect NDE and NDE-Like experiencers globally and bring a public awareness to help change the way we see and live life with the knowledge of our next destination.

……………….

The End-of-Life Epiphany of Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert passed away in April of 2013. Here is a quote I shared in class that comes from his wife, Chaz, who described Roger’s last few days in this world:

“Roger looked beautiful. He looked really beautiful. I don’t know how to describe it, but he looked peaceful, and he looked young.

“The one thing people might be surprised about — Roger said that he didn’t know if he could believe in God. He had his doubts. But toward the end, something really interesting happened. That week before Roger passed away, I would see him and he would talk about having visited this other place. I thought he was hallucinating. I thought they were giving him too much medication. But the day before he passed away, he wrote me a note: ‘This is all an elaborate hoax.’ I asked him, ‘What’s a hoax?’ And he was talking about this world, this place. He said it was all an illusion. I thought he was just confused. But he was not confused. He wasn’t visiting heaven, not the way we think of heaven. He described it as a vastness that you can’t even imagine. It was a place where the past, present, and future were happening all at once…”

The remainder of our time together was spent watching, and discussing, a new documentary that features near-death experiencer Howard Storm discussing his life and what he learned from his near-death experience. The documentary is currently posted on YouTube in three parts. I can’t include it here because the filmmaker, Matt Cline, is not allowing the documentary to be shared on other websites. I will, however, share the trailer for the film and then list the three parts we watched in class. Here’s the movie trailer:

Part III: 03:00 – 10:25

The first segment we watched together in class comes from Part III. We watched from 03:00 – 10:25. Here’s a transcription of what Howard said:

“When he [Jesus] told me that I had to come back to the world and I was trying to convince him not to send me back…, I asked him what would I do if I came back… Before he had a chance to answer, I said you know I am an artist and I would like to build a shrine for you… I would make this shrine so big and beautiful and bizarre that people would come from all over the world out of curiosity to see what it was about. And what they would find was it would be about you. And that would make them think about you. That’s what I would like to do if I came back.

“He said, I would rather you didn’t do that.

“And I said, WHAT?!! People have been building shrines to you forever. There are lots of shrines. Why can’t I build a shrine? I would like to build a shrine.

“He said you spent so much of your life hiding out in the studio, avoiding people, I would prefer it if you didn’t avoid people by building this big shrine… I don’t really care about shrines. People like to build shrines. I understand that. It makes them feel good. It does absolutely nothing for me or for God. We don’t have any use for them whatsoever. If that’s what amuses you, I guess that’s what you gotta do. But don’t do it for me. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking it’s something I want or need, because I don’t.

“I’m like, OK, you shot down my idea, what’s you’re idea of what would I do?

“And he said, love the person that you’re with.

“And I said, OK, great, I’ll do that. No problem. What do you want me to do?

“He said, I just told you what I want you to do: love the person that you’re with.

“And I said, Yeah, but after I do that, what do you really want me to do?

“No, that is what I want you to do: love the person that you’re with.

“I said well, that’s simple enough, that’s easy, I can do that.

“And he said, oh really. Well, that’s what I want you to do. That’s enough.

“And I said, how is it enough?

“He said, if you do that, you’ll change the world.

“And I said, oh, you want me to change the world?!

“Exactly, that’s why put you in the world in the first place: to change the world.

“Well you know there’s been a lot of people that have tried to change the world and they usually turn out really pretty badly. I can think of examples like Adolph Hitler, and Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse-tung. All of them wanted to change the world and they made it worse. If I go back and try and change the world, why isn’t it possible that I could a lot of terrible mistakes and make the world a worse place?

“The way that I want you to change the world is by loving the person you are with.

“Wait a minute, that’s a contradiction. You want me to change the world but you just want me to love the person I’m with?

“Yes, that’s the plan; that’s The Big Plan… If you love the person that you’re with, then they will go out and love the person that they’re with, and they will go out and love the person they’re with and it will be like a chain reaction and love will conquer the world and everyone will love one another. That’s God’s Big Plan.

“It’s not going to work.

“Why won’t it work?

“I love the person I’m with. They walk across the street and get run over by a truck. Everyone gets angry and upset.

“Yeah, that happens. But it’s really God’s plan and nothing is going to stop it. It’s going to happen.

“Even if you had a million people, I don’t think it’s going to happen.

“There’s more than a million people in the plan…

“Well, from what I know of the world, you don’t have enough.

“Actually, we have all the angels in the plan. There’s a lot of them. There are more angels than there are people in the world… There are millions of people. There are all the angels. There’s God. It’s inevitable. The plan is going to happen.

“If that’s your plan, I’ll do it, but I just don’t really see much hope for it.

“[And Jesus said], you don’t know enough to see how it’s going to happen.

“So, my solution to everything is to love one another. And when I read the Bible and found out that that was written in the Bible as Jesus’ commandment: this is my commandment, that you love one another… that’s the program. I have tried to be part of that program… So, I personally have no big plan other than to be loving.

“The only fly in the ointment was that I thought it was going to be easy, and it turns out to be the hardest thing I have ever done. It sounds so simple, but it’s really difficult. It’s easy for me to love my mother because she was a really nice woman and she was a very loving woman. It’s not hard to love someone who is really good and really loving. But what do you do with someone who is difficult, or really nasty? Those are hard people to love.

“And what does it mean to love someone? Sometimes to love someone means you need to incarcerate them. And that’s not a lot of fun. Sometimes loving someone means you have to put as much distance between them and you as possible and tell them to never call you. And that’s not a lot of fun. Loving someone sounds so simple but it is very difficult…”

Part I & II: 26:00 – 32:06

The next segment we watched in class comes from Part I & II. We watched from 26:00 – 32:06. In this portion of the interview, Howard describes his surprise — and then alarm! — at discovering that Jesus not only knew everything he was thinking on the other side of life, but that Jesus also knew EVERYTHING HE EVER THOUGHT AND DID period. As Howard pondered this, he describes how he realized that this meant that Jesus was also aware of his most private and embarrassing thoughts and actions. And, in spite of this, Jesus still loved him completely. As he continued to work his way through this information, Howard concluded that if Jesus still loved him no matter what he did — or had done — then everything was OK. He could relax. He also describes conjuring up a vision of a naked woman and Jesus delighting in that as well. Howard then began talking about how Jesus (and the angels that Jesus had gathered together to be with Howard) reviewed Howard’s life with him. Howard saw how they loved him no matter what he did, but they were very sad whenever he acted in hurtful ways. And the reason they were sad surprised him. They were sad because they knew when Howard acted in hurtful ways, he was actually hurting himself. Finally, Howard shared a very moving story about how he had acted tenderly and selflessly towards his older sister. Jesus told Howard that this event illustrated how we need to love one another. Be sure to watch this one!

Part IV: 04:00 – 04:32

I didn’t play this segment, but did quote it: “My ex-wife would be happy to tell you that I am the biggest looser in the world…” In this portion of the video — in Part IV, from 04:00 to 04:32, and in other portions that I didn’t share with the class, Howard mentioned how before his NDE he was very successful in the eyes of the world, while afterwards he has struggled in this world.

Part III: 11:44 – 16:16

Finally, I returned to Part III and played from 11:44 – 16:16. In this portion of the interview Howard mentions that he didn’t believe in reincarnation, in spite of the fact that he remembered a life as a small girl living in a concentration camp in World War II. Based on his conversations with Jesus, Howard came to believe that the universe is not only teaming with life, but that a time will come when we can share the experience of beings living in other realms and worlds NOT by traveling to their worlds in space ships, but by sharing experiences telepathically. He felt a similar process was at work with reincarnation. In this segment, Howard also mentioned that he felt the Earth was one of the lowest grades of spiritual development in the universe — like day care — and that there are many other places we will go to learn after our experiences are finished here. The universe is, again, teaming with life and wonderful things await us.

While I shared what I felt were the best portions of Howard’s interview with Matt Cline, I urge everyone to watch all three videos, in order, from beginning to end. Cline did a marvelous job filming Howard, and Howard was delightfully honest, humble, and sincere. I don’t think it is possible to watch this interview and not be deeply moved by Howard and what he has to say.

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

As always, the class began with a few moments of silence. After our quiet time together, I let everyone know that the internet is now up and running at the Center! In the near future, Alexandra will be at the Center during the day. When that happens, the Center will be a great place for like-minded people to hang out with one another and use the Center’s internet connection.

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NHNE’s Winter 2014 Fundraising Video

The class began with me sharing NHNE’s Winter 2014 Fundraising Video, which featured many members of our local community clean and paint the Center.

The remainder of the class was spent learning about and discussing the very interesting case of Michael Morton, which has many important things in common with near-death experiences.

After being wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, Michael spent 25 years in prison. CNN’s Special: An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story did an outstanding job covering Michael’s story. About half way through, after describing, in detail, how Michael ended up in prison, CNN talked about Michael being angry, vengeful, lost, and broken — until, in desperation, he called out for God to help him. A few days after his heartfelt prayer, Michael had a mystical experience where he was swept up into the presence of God. According to Michael, he was “literally and figuratively swept up into the Light”. Shortly after that, everything started to change. Whereas before Michael was completely ignored by the justice system, now the wheels started to turn so the wrongs that had been done to him could be rectified. After I provided an overview of Michael’s case (click here to learn more), we watched the following two videos:

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CNN Trailer: An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story

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A CNN News Report About Michael Morton

We watched from 4:25 until the end on this video.

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Here’s a quick list of the parallels between Michael’s experience and NDEs that jumped out at me:

Near-death experiences teach us that prayer is a super power. They also teach us that most of the misery we suffer in life is self-inflicted — and there are angels and other spiritual forces waiting to help us if we will stop wallowing in our own self-created hells long enough to look up and sincerely ask for help.

2. An encounter with God completely changed him. That inner transformation, in turn, led to massive changes in his life. Whereas the first 15 years of Michael’s life in prison, he was stuck, angry, and consumed with thoughts of hatred and revenge, the next 10 years were overshadowed by God, patience, acceptance, and magic.

Encounters with God also transform the lives of near-death experiencers.

3. While in prison Michael made efforts to lighten the burdens of others by reaching out to them in simple ways. One inmate described how Michael left ice cream for him when no one else cared. On the day of his release, Michael’s fellow inmates celebrated his release by gathering together and cheering for him.

Near-death experiences repeatedly remind us that “it’s the little things in life” — small acts of kindness, thoughtfulness, and caring — that are the most important.

4. Michael left prison with a deep, positive, cheerful attitude towards life and a healthy appreciation for and acceptance of the injustices that had befallen him.

Near-death experiences teach us that gratitude is another super power.

5. While affirming that he felt it was important that failings of the justice system be fixed, Michael asked that the people responsible for those failings be treated “gently”.

Near-death experiences encourage the same general attitude: they remind us that we will be held accountable for our actions. They also encourage us to be patient, forgiving, and non-judgmental towards one another.

6. Once Michael got out of prison, he appreciated everything more fully: colors, pets, small children, associating with good people, good food, a nice bed, soft clothes that fit…

When near-death experiencers return to this world, they are often intensely aware of and grateful for the beauty of this world, especially as it appears in the ordinary, every day things that most humans overlook and/or take for granted.

7. Michael’s experience ended up sparking major reforms in the criminal justice system.

Near-death experiences remind us that our actions, both large and small, effect the entire universe. They also remind us that every single person has a mission.

8. We create our own realities.

Michael’s positive and negative attitudes as well as his connection with God — and, early on, lack of connection with God — clearly shaped his experiences in the world. The same is true for us. We are, absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt the creators of our own realities. Our thoughts, beliefs, and feelings not only determine how long we stay stuck in challenging and unpleasant situations, but also how quickly we create new, more healthy, happy, and wholesome ones.

9. Injustice does not exist. Everyone signs up for what they experience.

While we don’t know why Michael and all the other people in his life story played the roles they did, we do know from near-death experiences that everyone — those who are abused as well as those who are the abusers — all agree on their roles before birth. Near-death experiences also make it clear that while these reasons may remain obscure to us while we are living in this world, they become crystal clear to us on the other side. After near-death experiencer Barbara Whitfield was shown the forces that led to her being born as the daughter of a mentally ill mother, she repeatedly marveled to herself “No wonder. No wonder. No wonder…”

While preparing for the class, I had a nagging feeling that there was something else going on with Morton’s story that I was missing. After watching Catherine Hayward describe her near-death experience, all the pieces fell in place.

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Four things occurred to me after watching Catherine’s video:

1. Many NDErs report feeling the same way Catherine did after her experience. She was enraged that she was forced to leave Heaven and return to Earth. Earth, in other words, FELT LIKE A PRISON! In comparison to how things feel on the other side, this world, complete with all its lacks, limitations, and challenges, can feel very confining and unpleasant indeed.

2. Catherine’s efforts to avoid being sent back to Earth failed in the same way that Michael’s efforts to get out of prison failed. Ditto for thousands, perhaps millions of other near-death experiencers. Regardless of how much they protest and complain, they still get sent back to Earth.

3. What turned the tide for Catherine was a second encounter with God. That encounter, like unto the encounter that Michael had, helped her develop a more mature, loving, accepting, and ultimately grateful attitude. Knowing that God was with them, and that there were important lessons for them to learn and missions for them to accomplish, both Catherine and Michael accepted their limitations and began working with them, rather than fighting against them. In Catherine’s case, this led to a life threatening illness being healed and her getting married. In Michael’s case, this led to him being released from prison, vindicated of a crime he didn’t commit, being re-united with his son, and important changes being initiated in the criminal justice system. Michael’s experience also led to others being held accountable for the harm they had caused.

4. The challenging process we go through turns us from spoiled children (as Catherine described her initial interaction with God) and/or selfish, materialistic people (as Michael was described in various news accounts) into more mature, caring, compassionate, grateful, present, beautiful human beings.

CNN’s special report ended with Michael sharing words of wisdom:

“Now, everything is different for me. The conundrums of life; the philosophical paradoxes; the metaphysical problems, I feel like I get it now. I understand suffering and unfairness. I can’t think of anything better to receive than that. I’m good with this — this world, what’s happening to me, where I’m going, what I’m doing. And I know three little simple things now because of that:

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

The first Tuesday of every month is a special two-hour long class, so there was tons of news to share…

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CNN’s Special on Dr. Mary Neal, Anita Moorjani, and Ben Breedlove

Cheers to CNN for doing a beautiful job covering the near-death experiences of Dr. Mary Neal, Anita Moorjani and Ben Breedlove. CNN not only picked three solid stories to share with their viewers, but they allowed these people significant air time to tell their stories without interviewers asking irrelevant questions or making dumb comments. CNN also didn’t waste time including the uninformed, know-it-allish, often hyper-aggressive comments of materialistic “experts” who routinely say near-death experiences are produced by malfunctioning brains while brashly ignoring the facts that say otherwise. Good job CNN! This one hour special report is one more indication that NDEs are finally being taken seriously by the mainstream culture and that the days of these experiences being pigeon-holed, dismissed, and ignored is nearing an end.

I played two video clips from this special in the class. You can find those video clips, and many more, posted here.

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Actor Paul Walker Dies, Blogger Points To CNN Special To Ease The Pain

People die every day. And for most human beings, death is a sad, tragic, emotionally devastating experience.

In recent days, actor Paul Walker died in a car crash. While most of the mainstream media focused on details of the accident and Walker’s acting career, at least one blogger attempted to use the CNN report mentioned above to address the pain, confusion, fear, and suffering that surrounds death.

The recent death of actor Paul Walker has left his family, friends and fans in a state of disbelief and sadness. Often at times like these people start to question the meaning of life and their mortality.

So, what happens when we die?

People who have died, left their bodies, then returned, claim they know the answer…

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Anita Moorjani at TEDxBayArea

Anita Moorjani recently spoke at TEDxBayArea. Towards the end of her talk, beginning at 13:42, Anita discussed “the five most important things” she learned from her near-death experience. We listened to this portion of her presentation and explored, one-by-one, the five things she mentioned:

1. Love yourself uncondtionally

2. Live life fearlessly

3. The importance of humor, laughter, and joy

4. Life is a gift (even our challenges are gifts)

5. Always be yourself (“be as you as you can be”)

While each point sparked lively conversations, Anita’s primary call for people to love themselves received the most air time. Among other things, we learned that this topic is more complicated than it seems.

For example, while most of us treat ourselves very badly (inwardly, we tend to berate ourselves and be very critical and unforgiving), there is also a very strong tendency, especially in the Western world, to spend too much time self-lavishing and not enough time helping, caring for, and reaching out to others. We are also confronted with the fact that the universe is filled with other beings, not just ourselves, and it is often through loving others that we experience the deepest happiness and have the most profound and transformative experiences. In other words, for many human beings loving others leads to us experiencing God’s love for us, our love for ourselves, and an increased ability to love others.

Which brings up another critical issue. While Anita tends to focus on how important it is to love ourselves (which, of course, it is), she doesn’t often mention what gave her the ability to love herself. While she was visiting Sedona, she told us where this ability came from. Beginning at 30:27 and running until 31:56 in her Sedona talk Anita said:

“The first lesson and the most important lesson I learned about life, or what I learned that I believed saved my life, is that I learned that it is extremely important to love yourself. Very, very important! And I cannot stress this enough. It was the love I felt coming for me that saved my life. I never knew before that, before my near-death experience, that I was supposed to love myself unconditionally. The love I felt in the other realm — it doesn’t matter where or who it was coming from — because all of us have different philosophies of how we like to see life. I don’t like to put labels on anything. So whether the love comes from Jesus, or Allah, or Krishna, or Buddha, it doesn’t matter. Whether it came from my father. It’s all God. The love was so unconditional. And that love that I felt told me that I was deserving and I was worthy of being loved. And It made me realize that it’s OK to love myself.”

In other words, Anita’s ability to love herself unconditionally grew out of her experiencing the unconditional love of the other realm. Do you and I need to have this kind of experience before we can love ourselves in a truly healthy and balanced way? My own answer is, yes, absolutely. It is only when we can experience ourselves as God does that we can genuinely love ourselves, wholeheartedly and unconditionally. So how can we experience ourselves like God does? That’s the million dollar question. And short of having the kind of full blown encounter that Anita did, the answer appears to be “little-by-little, step-by-step.” By that I mean, we feel and express love as best we can, in whatever ways are available to us: love of God, love of self, love of others. As we do this, we slowly but surely open the door to more full blown encounters with the Divine. And this, in turn, creates a wonderfully self-perpetuating cycle: the more we love, the closer we are drawn to the Divine; and the closer we are drawn to the Divine, the more capacity we have to love.

One more thought.

When I listened to Anita talk about life being a gift, it occurred to me that she is absolutely right. As she pointed out, even challenges, when followed through to the end, turn out to be gifts. The idea that emerged more clearly in my mind is that EVERYTHING about life — being born on Earth, being sent back (if we happen to be an NDEr), all the challenges we face — EVERY SINGLE THING WE EXPERIENCE — has been carefully designed to make us better, deeper, happier. That’s why we are here. To become more, not less; to gain, not loose; to become increasingly wonderful beings on every level. That, I think, is something to ponder, marvel at, and feel grateful for!

Penny Sartori was a nurse for 17 years in the Intensive Therapy Unit of a major hospital. Early in her career, a connection she made with a dying patient totally changed her life. After undertaking a five year research project into near-death experiences, Penny was awarded a PhD and has written, lectured and broadcast widely, and is now one of the UK’s foremost experts on the subject of NDEs.

Writes Dr. Sartori:

“When I reflect back on my research, I realise that we have been so busy trying to pathologise NDEs that we have missed a big point and that is the message that NDErs have for us all. Very often there is great wisdom in what NDErs have to say and by hearing what these people have to say, this is something we can all benefit from without having to nearly die.”

Jeffrey Long, M.D., author of the New York Times bestselling “Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences” adds:

“You won’t want to miss this exceptional book! Dr. Sartori is uniquely qualified. She conducted one of the most important prospective near-death experience studies ever reported. As a nurse she works daily with dying patients. This book is scholarly in content, yet easy and delightful to read. This highly recommended book contains a treasure trove of wisdom that is powerful, inspiring, and could change your life.”

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The 5th Circle on The Formula: See, Tell, Live The Truth

The 5th circle in “The Formula for Creating Heaven on Earth” emphasizes the importance of seeing, telling, and living the truth. We find this reflected in near-death experiences by the fact that lying and deception on the other side is not possible. Everyone knows exactly what everyone else is thinking and feeling, and why. We are also acutely aware of our true motivations and no longer have the capacity to lie to ourselves, or others. Life reviews also make it crystal clear that there are absolute truths that we are all held accountable to. In spite of how skilled we are at evading responsibility for our thoughts and actions on Earth, NDEs make it crystal clear that no one actually gets away with anything. We should, therefore, spend our time learning how to see, tell, and live the truth, rather trying to become masters of spin and deception.

And what do you know? It turns out that telling the truth is also linked to health and happy relationships…

Research from the University of Notre Dame shows that when people managed to reduce their lies in given weeks across a 10-week study, they reported significantly improved physical and mental health in those same weeks.

The “Science of Honesty” study was presented recently at the American Psychological Association’s 120th annual convention.

“We found that the participants could purposefully and dramatically reduce their everyday lies, and that in turn was associated with significantly improved health,” says lead author Anita Kelly, a Notre Dame psychology professor whose research includes the study of secrets and self-disclosure.

“I was told by Doctors that I came very close to dying of pneumonia back in 1994 (the Dr said I scared them, that they thought they were going to lose me), but I do not recall leaving my body or anything like that. I do believe I was visited by an angel who sat next to my bed for 3 days while I was unconscious and comforted me throughout that time. I remember it VERY clearly and remember vividly what he looked liked, what he was wearing (emerald green hospital garb), and how he smiled at me and held my hand and made me feel very safe. J I tried to give him a card before I left the hospital 12 days later to thank him, but when I asked the hospital staff where I could find him to give him the card, they said that no-one had been there beside my bed. It was very confusing to me because I knew he was there the entire time, as I was wondering why he just sitting there and not going back to work! LOL”

And:

“I had what I’ve come to understand is a STE not too long ago. I was having some serious health issues (was told that I had had a heart attack at some point although it is unknown when it actually occurred) and I had some other serious health related problems that were causing me a great deal of fear and anxiety. I was not enjoying the ride in the least, and I would just stay home and could barely leave the house. One day I was alone at home and I was in so much pain and fear, and I went to lie down on my bed and I cried out to God to help me or to just let me die. I couldn’t take any more of what was happening to me.

“At the moment I was literally about to break, a peace came over me and I had a “knowing” that absolutely nothing could harm me, not even death. I heard (in my mind, not aloud) very soothing and comforting voices saying that I am never alone, that I am loved deeply and that I am always protected. I decided to CHOOSE life at that moment, and I have been choosing it ever since. I feel that it was a great gift given to me and that I am here for a reason.”

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An Outstanding NDE Aftereffects Story

What happens to us — what do our lives begin to look like — when we begin to live in Kingdom of God states of consciousness? Here is an unidentified woman’s wonderful story from the August 2013 IANDS Monthly NDE that may provide a glimpse:

“Forbidden to speak of the encounter [an NDE-related encounter with angelic beings], I have kept it to myself all these years although it changed me profoundly. My parents indicated that I became much more compassionate and far less self-centered after this experience. After this, I was able to almost read people’s thoughts I became so attuned to others. I still do this.

“I also have very unique and close relationships with animals. I have actually been asked to leave the zoo because all of the animals I passed came over to stand in front of me in their enclosures. Many pressed themselves right up against the bars or glass and tried to touch me. A woman from another family who was there at the same time as me said that I was “hogging” the animals and their attention to myself, and zoo attendants asked me to wait until no one else was present before I approached the animals. As this happened time after time as soon as I entered a zoo building or exhibit they eventually asked me to leave even though I was not doing anything but silently appreciating the animals!!

“Strangers — particularly children — still approach me all the time. People and animals have even followed me home for no discernible reason other than to be with me. I have grown used to this behavior and I no longer question it. I also appear to have a VERY green thumb and plants that florists have declared as dead come to life for me. I just seem to know intuitively what to do.

“As an adult, I was drawn to healing professions and worked for many years in an operating room and other hospital environments. Now I work as an applied anthropologist with adult students whose learning disabilities make post-secondary education difficult. I am frequently told that I have a calming influence on others and that my presence is “soothing.”

“Since my experience I have also on several occasions been re-visited by animal companions who have passed on, and I now regularly get help from my mother (who has passed on) when I least expect it. I feel as if I am far more open to life/nature and that the boundary between planes of existence is somehow more permeable for me than it was before my encounter. I awoke from my illness (whatever it was) with the certain knowledge that all life is connected, and from that day I have refused to kill anything. I lost my fear of spiders and snakes and I now scoop all insects up and put them somewhere safe when I encounter them. As an adult, I have adopted a Jain philosophy (ahimsa or non-violence) toward life.”

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Communicating With The Rest Of Life

Speaking of communicating with animals (and the rest of life), near-death experiencers often report the ability to communicate with plants, animals, eco-systems, worlds, celestial systems, angels, nature spirits, other humans, you-name-it on the other side of the veil. That’s because EVERYTHING is alive.

Is it possible to communicate like this now, in this world? Absolutely. And, in fact, that’s one of the core truths presented by near-death experiences: Life is about relationship and everything is connected and constantly communicating with one another, even if we are unaware of it. Bottom line: If we want to bring Heaven to Earth, we need to learn how to consciously communicate with all the forces we share life with, including the vast numbers of animals we share this world with.

I ended this class by playing the first 13 minutes of a 2012 documentary called “The Animal Communicator,” which featured Anna Breytenbach and her extraordinary ability to communicate with animals. You can watch the entire movie here and learn more about Anna, including how she communicates with animals, by going here. The following video clip is a beautiful introduction to Anna and her abilities:

Back to near-death experiences, Kevin Williams, the host of near-death.com, has collected many accounts of people encountering pets and animals on the other side of the veil. Writes Kevin:

“According to many near-death sources, animals have souls and go to heaven just as human beings do. Within the section of this site, you can read the testimonies of people who had a NDE and were reunited with their deceased pets. Here you can discover some amazing facts about your pet and animals in general. After reading these testimonies, you will never look upon your pets or animals in the same way. The testimonies provided here describe animals as having a heaven(s) of their own of which human beings are allowed to visit. They reveal how communication with our deceased pets on the Other Side is by means of mental telepathy.”

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

This update includes a transcript of CNN’s one-hour special report. It also includes additional CNN video clips of Dr. Mary Neal, Anita Moorjani, and Benjamin Breedlove. Some of this footage WAS NOT included in CNN’s one-hour special report. This update also includes comments from NDEr Mary Jo Rapini that were used to promote CNN’s one-hour special.

One woman is under water and without oxygen for 30 minutes after a kayaking accident. Another has end-stage cancer. A teenage boy suffers heart failure.

On the brink of death, all three tell stories of leaving their bodies, going to heaven and coming back.

For each, their story raises questions: Is heaven real? What does it feel like to die?

And for each, their answer — airing Sunday on CNN’s “To Heaven and Back” — will be grounded in their experience. These are their accounts:

…

MARY NEAL

It was January 14, 1999, and Mary Neal, an orthopedic surgeon from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, had surprised her husband, Bill, with a week-long kayaking trip with friends in the Los Rios Region of Chile.

It had been a good trip. The couple spent the week enjoying people, the food and the culture.

But that morning, Neal’s husband wasn’t feeling well. So he stayed behind while she joined their friends on a section of river well known for its waterfalls and drops of 10 to 15 feet.

“When I first put (afloat) on the river, I didn’t feel quite right,” she said.

Neal crested at the top of the first big drop in the river. She looked down into what she later described as a bottomless pit.

Then she went over.

The front end of her boat got pinned in the rocks, submerging her in the water. The force of the current pinned her to the front deck of the boat.

Her friends began searching for her, knowing that the clock was ticking.

“Time is very important,” Neal said. It determines “whether you are going to rescue somebody or recover the body.”

Precious minutes ticked by. “I knew I was going to die,” she said.

Neal had always worked — worked to become a doctor, worked at her marriage of 26 years, worked at raising her four children.

But she admits she made very little time for her spiritual life.

“I did take my children to Sunday school, and I tried to incorporate spirituality into my daily life — and then I would run out of time,” she said.

Pinned in the boat and out of air, Neal started to give up.

“I really gave it all over to God, and I really said, ‘Your will be done,'” she said.

At the same time, she remembers her brain doing a self-assessment exam. “I could still feel the boat. I could feel the current,” she said.

On the surface above her, her friends were scrambling to try to free her.

It seemed hopeless, her friends would later say.

Then something shifted, and another rock was exposed. It was just enough for the group to shift the boat to free Neal, who was sucked out of the bottom of the boat by the current — with her legs bending back over her knees.

“I could feel the bones breaking. I could feel the ligaments and the tissue tearing. I felt my spirit peeling away from my body, sort of like peeling two pieces of tape,” Neal recounted.

As one of her friends grabbed her wrist to try to pull her out of the water, Neal realized she was outside her body watching the rescue effort.

“I could see them pull my body to the shore. I could see them start CPR,” she said. “I had no pulse, and I wasn’t breathing. One fellow was yelling at me to come back. …My body was purple and bloated. My pupils were fixed and dilated.”

She watched people work on her, but she felt none of it.

“When I saw my body, I actually thought ‘Well, I guess I am dead. I guess I really did die,'” Neal said.

As she watched, she said she was met by “these people or these spirits” who started to guide her toward a brightly lit path toward what appeared to be a domed structure.

“It was exploding, not just with light and brilliance and color but with love,” she said.

There, she spoke with the spirits. They told her it was not her time to die, that she still had a job to finish, Neal said.

One of the reasons she had to return, they told her, was because of her son Willie.

“I knew very specifically with regard to my son that he was going to die,” Neal said. “We talked about how he already fulfilled his job. He’d really already done what he was meant to do.”

Then she was back in her body, breathing again. Those involved estimate that Neal had been without oxygen for 30 minutes.

Her recovery would take months, but she no longer took time for granted. It is a journey she chronicled in her book “To Heaven and Back.”

Each day took on a new meaning for Neal, who awoke every day wondering if it would be her son Willie’s last day.

On June 21, 2009, 19-year-old Willie went out to roller ski with a friend.

He and the friend stopped on a road, near a ridge.

“Wouldn’t this be an incredible last sight, if we could never see anything else,” Willie told the friend.

Less than a minute later, he was hit by a car and killed.

“I am my own greatest skeptic,” Neal said. “I am quite sure that I would not believe my life story had I not personally lived each and every day of it. I absolutely believe that every person can look at their life and see the hand of God.”

Most miracles, Neal says, are quiet.

It’s that person who calls you when you most need it, she said. It’s that person who directs you to someone who changes your life.

…

ANITA MOORJANI

On February 2, 2006, Anita Moorjani was in a coma. With her body riddled with cancer, doctors told her husband that her organs were shutting down and she likely would not make it beyond the next 36 hours.

“I was just so tired of fighting to try to stay alive,” she said.

Moorjani knew what cancer could do to the body. She had seen it ravage her best friend, Soni, eventually killing her.

So when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2002, she was afraid.

In a way, Moorjani had always been afraid — of living and of dying.

Growing up in Hong Kong, she said she was bullied because of her Indian heritage. She went so far as to lighten her hair and bleach her skin to fit in at the British school she attended.

“I felt I had to apologize for being me,” she said.

Then she was diagnosed with cancer, one of her biggest fears after seeing it take the life of Soni.

Slowly the cancer took its toll on Moorjani.

By February 1, 2006, sick and weak, she thought to herself: “Even death can’t be worse than this.”

So she said she let go.

The next morning, she didn’t wake up. Her husband rushed her to the hospital, where the family was told the bad news: Moorjani was in a coma and not expected to wake again.

Moorjani can’t put her finger on the exact minute that she says she left her body.

She saw her husband standing next to her hospital bed.

“He was very distraught. He was there by my bedside. I could feel he was willing me to come back,” she said.

Moorjani could also hear conversations that took place between her husband and her doctors, far from her hospital room.

She heard them, she said, discuss her pending death. “Your wife’s heart might be beating, but she’s not really in there,” a doctor told her husband — a conversation, she said, he would later confirm to her after she asked.

Hovering between life and death, she said she was surrounded by people who loved her.

Her best friend, Soni, was there. So was her father, who had died years earlier from heart failure.

There were others there, too. She didn’t recognize most of them. But she knew they loved her and cared for her.

It was a feeling unlike anything she says she had ever felt.

“At first, I did not want to come back. Why would I want to come back into this sick body?” she said.

Then, hovering between life and death, she had a moment of clarity — a true understanding.

“All the years of beating myself up, of feeling flawed, had manifested itself and turned into cancer,” she said.

About 30 hours after being hospitalized, Moorjani awoke.

Within days, she said, her organs began to function again. Within weeks, doctors could find no evidence of cancer in her body, she said.

“I’m not scared of death. Whenever that day comes, I’ll feel I will have accomplished what I came here to do,” Moorjani said. “I believe that all of us have only come here to realize who we are, and to be true to who we are.”

She recounted her experience in her book, “Dying to Be Me: My Journey From Cancer, To Near Death, To True Healing.”

Today, she remains cancer free.

…

BENJAMIN BREEDLOVE

It was December 18, 2011, a week before Christmas, and 18-year-old Benjamin Breedlove went to his bedroom.

He had spent the day with his family. They had held church at their home in Austin, Texas, because the teenager was ill. Since childhood he had battled hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart condition that posed a constant risk of sudden death.

In his short life, Benjamin — Ben as he was known to family and friends — had suffered three heart attacks, including an episode the night before.

Two weeks earlier he suffered heart failure while he was in school.

He collapsed on the campus commons, according to students and the school nurse.

For three minutes, his heart stopped.

Now, after two heart attacks in as many weeks, he and his family were holding church inside their house. The family read from the Bible and prayed for Ben.

“After we were finished, Ben prayed for us. He prayed that we wouldn’t be sad or scared,” his sister, Ally Breedlove said.

Then, on that day a week before Christmas, the teenager disappeared into his room where he made a two-part video titled “This Is My Life” that he posted to YouTube unbeknownst to his parents.

He used index cards to recount his collapse at the high school.

“I heard them say ‘he’s not breathing. His heart stopped, and he has no pulse,'” the cards read.

He said he saw a white light.

The teenager said he felt at peace. “I didn’t want to leave that place,” he said in his video.

Then Ben said he woke up on the floor of the school.

A week later, on Christmas Day, Ben opened presents with his family. They played a game of Monopoly. Then he went outside to watch his younger brother bounce on a trampoline.

“I looked outside my kitchen window, and I took a mental snapshot of Ben smiling,” his mother, Deanne Breedlove, said. “That was the last time I saw Ben smile.”

Minutes later, he suffered heart failure.

As Ben lay dying, the video he made had gone viral with hundreds of thousands watching it.

It’s closing lines: “Do you believe in angels or God? I do.”

…………….

Original Post

Anita Moorjani & Dr. Mary Neal on CNN This Sunday
November 26, 2013

NDErs Anita Moorjani (who we have studied in our NDE class and who has also visited us in Sedona) and Dr. Mary Neal will both be appearing in a special report produced by CNN. Called “To Heaven and Back”, the special report is scheduled to air this Sunday, December 1st, at 7:00 PM and then again at 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

As always, the class began with a few moments of silence. After our quiet time together, Alexandra and I gave everyone an update about what is happening with the Center, and the Center’s new website, which will launch next week. I also announced that Robert Perry’s talk on the parallels between “A Course In Miracles” and near-death experiences is complete. His talk be available next week with the launching of our new website. Robert’s talk will also available on DVD for those who don’t have access to YouTube or the internet. We also plan to launch a fundraiser the same time.

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The Formula 2.1

Version 2.1 of “The Formula for Creating Heaven on Earth” is now available. Version 2.1 adds an extremely important catch phrase to the main page: “It’s The Little Things.” Here are a couple quotes from “The Light & The Life Review” that illustrate this extremely important truth:

“The angels and Jesus shared their feelings of joy with me when love was expressed, and they shared their disappointment and sadness when we hurt one another… I excelled in the shot put and discus for a track coach who gave me acceptance and approval. The angels and Jesus had no interest in the track meet competitions I won or lost. They were interested in the relationships and how we encouraged or hurt one another…”

“I had to turn away numerous times when I saw myself treating my children in unloving ways. The most unloving thing that I did was to be at times so obsessed with my concerns that I was indifferent to their needs. I am sorry for the occasions that I was impatient or cruel to my daughter and son. The most disturbing behaviors I witnessed in my life review were the times when I cared more about my career as an artist and college professor than about their need to be loved. The emotional abandonment of my children was devastating to review. It was horrifying to see how I had become so much like my father, putting status and success above everything else.”

“The only reason I could bear to proceed with the life review was because of their love for me. No matter what we watched me do in my life, they communicated their love for me, even as they expressed their disapproval of things I did.”

“I have never interviewed anyone who had a near-death experience who told me that they came back to make more money or to spend more time at their jobs away from their families… Instead, they become convinced that they need to be more loving and kind. They react to their experience by living life to its fullest. They believe their lives have a purpose, even if that purpose is obscure to them. Invariably it involves concepts such as love of family or service to others. They seem to know that the love they create while living will be reﬂected and radiated back to them when they die.”

Click here to listen to the Kenneth Ring’s complete interview with Jeffrey Mishlove.

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IANDS Training Video

The IANDS training video for doctors and nurses is finished and available for purchase.

How do you recognize a patient’s near-death experience? How do you respond to it? The new IANDS-sponsored NDE Medical Training Video provides answers. This groundbreaking video features six medical professionals, addresses the needs of near-death experiencers, and provides professional and general audiences with knowledge of NDEs. The Training Video DVD (30 min) costs $39.95. The institutional NDE Training Package (which includes the DVD and supporting training materials) costs $199. Both items are now available on the IANDS website. Discounts are available to IANDS members.

1. Make a list, every day, of at least three things you are grateful for.

2. And for those who wanted to score extra credit, do what the video suggested: Write someone who is important to us a letter of appreciation, then call them and read it to them.

While no one did the second exercise, several people did do the first one. And two especially significant discoveries emerged from our sharings.

The first discovery was that when we take time to feel genuinely grateful — and express that gratitude — several of us noticed how that lifted us into a higher state of consciousness. Simply put: we felt closer to God when we were grateful. Gratitude, it turns out, is a surprisingly quick and effective way to reconnect with our deeper selves.

The second discovery was that when we take time to feel genuinely grateful for whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, those circumstances, no matter how challenging, are easier to deal with. We feel less stress, more connected, more effective, more present, and, because of that, we are able to master our circumstances and move through them more quickly and gracefully.

If you combine these two thoughts you have a fantastic merging of the vertical and horizontal sides of life that are foundation principles in The Formula. While gratitude helps us connect more deeply with God (the vertical side of life), it also helps us be more grounded and effective in this world (the horizontal side of life).

These discoveries really helped flesh out why gratitude is so important and why (and how) it plays an important role in The Formula. We agreed to continue the exercises and report back next week.

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Future Classes

Our next NDE class will take place on Tuesday, November 19th from 7:00 PM until 8:30 PM at the MSV-NHNE Community Center.

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one; 2. Love is the essence of life; 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the divine.”

The materials created for this class are available, free of charge, to whomever is interested. If you would like to support this work, you can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. This ongoing, evolving, cutting-edge work is co-sponsored by NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE) and The Mustard Seed Venture.

About Jesus Before Christianity

“I looked up and I saw this light; it wasn’t a normal light, it was different. It was luminescent. And it grew. I kept looking at it like, ‘What is that?’ Then it grew large and I went into it.

“I went into this tunnel, and I came into this room that was just beautiful. God held me, He called me by name, and He told me, ‘Mary Jo, you can’t stay.’ And I wanted to stay. I protested. I said, ‘I can’t stay? Why not?’ And I started talking about all the reasons; I was a good wife, I was a good mother, I did 24-hour care with cancer patients.

“And He said, ‘Let me ask you one thing -- have you ever loved another the way you’ve been loved here?’ And I said, ‘No, it’s impossible. I’m a human.’ And then He just held me and said, ‘You can do better.’ ”

– NDEr Mary Jo Rapini, describing her near-death experience

...

“Many events in my life I experienced, but not from how I remembered it, but from the point of view… [of] how the people, animals, environment experienced it around me. I felt it as my own. The times I had made others happy, and sad, I felt it all as they did. It was very apparent that every single thought, word, and action affects everything around us and indeed the entire universe. Trees, plants, animals too. I have been a long-term vegetarian since about 18 years old and I know this was appreciated and is a good choice in life. Spiritually it seemed to show proof of respect for all life, and even seemed to balance some of the negative and wicked things I have done in my life. In the life review we judge ourselves; no one else does. The light/god did not. But with no ego left — and no lies — we can’t hide from what we have done and feel remorse and shame, especially in the presence of this love and light. Some of the things in life we think of as important don’t seem to be so important there. But some of the insignificant things from the material human perspective are very important spiritually.”

– NDEr Justin U describing his near-death experience on the Near Death Experience Research Foundation website

“I’m not asking you to believe anything. I’m simply telling you what I believe. And I have no idea what the next life will be like. Whatever I saw was only from the doorway, so to speak. But it was enough to convince me totally of two things from that moment on: One, that our consciousness does not cease with physical death; that it becomes, in fact, keener and more aware than ever. And secondly, that how we spend our time on earth, the kind of relationships we build, is vastly more important than we can know.”

– NDEr George G. Ritchie, M.D.

...

“He (Allah) had Christians in Paradise. Moslems in Paradise. Jews in Paradise. And people who had no recognizable faith in God. We need to learn that…”

– Electa, a Moslem woman, describing what she saw in her near-death experience

...

“Unlike spiritual paths that arose from the ideas and inner experiences of lone, isolated human beings, the path presented by near-death experiences is emerging as a direct, grassroots revelation that millions of people from all over the world are receiving and sharing. If we explore this newly emerging path deeply enough, we discover that all religions, philosophies, and cultures are honored; that science and spirituality are celebrated; that both the human and spiritual side of our natures are cherished and embraced. In short, near-death experiences present us with a universal, all-inclusive, perfectly integrated spiritual path that revolves around three core truths: 1. We are all one 2. Love is the essence of life 3. We are here, in this world, to become perfect embodiments of the Divine.”

“To dwell on the nature of the afterlife may divert us from paying attention to THIS life, where the lessons from the Light need to be practiced… The true promise of the NDE is not so much what it suggests about an afterlife -- as inspiring and comforting as those glimpses are -- but what it says about how to live NOW… to learn from NDErs about how to live, or how to live better, with greater self-awareness, self-compassion, and concern for others. Live well, and death will take care of itself.”